Well folks, it looks like I have prediabetes!! I did the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test yesterday. My Drs office called me today to tell me that my dr wants to meet with me to discuss the results. I asked the nurse if my blood sugar was high and she said it was an 8.7. Then I googles that to find out that it does indeed mean I have prediabetes. This is what I found (taken from the Mayo Clinic Website):
Results
Results of the oral glucose tolerance test are given in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or millimoles per liter (mmol/L).
If you’re being tested for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, two hours after drinking the glucose solution:
A normal blood glucose level is lower than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L).
A blood glucose level between 140 mg/dL and 199 mg/dL (7.8 and 11 mmol/L) is considered impaired glucose tolerance, or prediabetes. If you have prediabetes, you’re at risk of eventually developing type 2 diabetes. You’re also at risk of developing heart disease, even if you don’t develop diabetes.
A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) or higher may indicate diabetes.
So, I fall into the prediabetes category. If you remember from last week, prediabetes means that I’m insulin resistant. Here’s some more information (taken from the Mayo Clinic website):
The exact cause of prediabetes is unknown. But family history and genetics appear to play an important role. Inactivity and excess fat — especially abdominal fat — also seem to be important factors.
What is clear is that people with prediabetes don’t process sugar (glucose) properly anymore. As a result, sugar accumulates in the bloodstream instead of doing its normal job of fueling the cells that make up muscles and other tissues.
Most of the glucose in your body comes from the food you eat. When food is digested, sugar enters your bloodstream. Moving sugar from your bloodstream to your body’s cells requires a hormone (insulin).
Insulin comes from a gland located behind the stomach (pancreas). Your pancreas secretes insulin into your bloodstream when you eat.
As insulin circulates, it allows sugar to enter your cells — and lowers the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. As your blood sugar level drops, so does the secretion of insulin from your pancreas.
When you have prediabetes, this process begins to work improperly. Instead of fueling your cells, sugar builds up in your bloodstream. High blood sugar occurs when your pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin or your cells become resistant to the action of insulin, or both.
When these conditions occur with obesity, they are associated with insulin resistance. The combination of three or more of these conditions is often called metabolic syndrome.
Complications
The most serious consequence of prediabetes is progression to type 2 diabetes. That’s because type 2 diabetes can lead to:
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Heart disease
Stroke
Kidney disease
Blindness
Amputations
Research indicates that prediabetes is often associated with unrecognized heart attacks and can damage your kidneys, even if you haven’t progressed to type 2 diabetes.
Huh…
This sounds bad, but the positive thing about prediabetes is that it’s NOT diabetes!! It’s still at a stage where with lifestyle changes, diabetes can still be prevented or at least significantly delayed. It’s like a wake up call I guess. Like hello! You need to get it together and start taking better care of yourself! So, I get to see my dr on Monday. She’ll probably get me started on a diet and exercise plan. I’m not sure if I need to buy a blood sugar monitor or not. I don’t know if you need to monitor your blood sugar at home with prediabetes. I read mixed opinions about that. I’m going to wait and see what my dr says about that on Monday. I kind of hope not. It’s just that it’d be one more thing that I had to remember to do and I wouldn’t want to mess it up. However, some of the things I read said it can help you to see how you react to certain foods and activity, etc. So it would be interesting! I guess I’ll talk to my dr on Monday and go from there. I’m going to get ready for bed now! Night all 💤😴
Hopefully one day I’ll get it right, or at least have fun, while about it I write!!”